A Change Of Heart
by On3-ShoT
Summary: Having to deal with everything from head duties to relationships, Lily Evans was faced with a bigger challenge: How to deal with a change of heart. R&R!
1. Default Chapter

**Disclaimer**: I'm an amateur! I don't write for a living. I write for fun. It's my hobby—not work. I write for the lack of anything else productive to do. I don't own Harry Potter. It's all JK Rowling's.

**Summary**: **(One-shot)** Having to deal with everything from head duties to relationships, Lily Evans was faced with a bigger challenge: How to deal with a change of heart. **R&R!**

**A Change of Heart  
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Lily and James were working at the Head's common room when suddenly, they heard a loud banging on their door. Growing annoyed, Lily gave James a look, asking him to open it. Understanding, James abandoned his work and opened the door.

"Potter…" came the unfriendly voice of Brad Williams, Lily's boyfriend. Without saying much more, he stormed inside the room.

"Williams, you're not allowed in here." James said. It was true. Even the Marauders were not allowed in the Head's room. Dumbledore made it clear to them. "I'll call her instead and inform her of your presence." James suggested as his Quidditch rival stormed in their room, looking furious about something.

"Shut up Potter!" was his reply. For a short while, James stood immobilized as he pondered what just happened. His rival in Quidditch and not to mention in Lily's heart was in their common room, entering without any invitation and disrespecting him, the Head Boy.

"Williams…" James warned. "I understand you're angry about something, but I warn you…" James paused awhile, and then slowly, he approached him. "If you won't leave right now, you would be serving detention for a week and I'll inform the Professors of this and make sure that your presence on Saturday's match would be absent."

Brad turned around to face James and glared at him. "Can't you do better than that, Potter?" He asked, eyeing James with an outmost dislike. "Are you threatened that the Ravenclaw team would beat your pathetic team?"

With a laugh, James went towards the direction of the door and showed him the way out, "Williams, you know you're faking it and I'm not…" He gave Brad a smug smile and continued on, "Now please leave. You can wait outside while I inform Lily."

Looking hatefully at James, he ignored him and went his way to see Lily. Losing his patience, James followed suit.

"Who was it?" Lily asked, as she heard footsteps coming. She wasn't however aware that it was Brad. Receiving no response, she was stunned to see her furious ex-boyfriend standing over James' work, and James standing not so far away, trying his hardest not to reach for his wand and hex Brad to oblivion.

"Brad?" Lily said with a shock. "What are you doing here? You're not allowed in here."

"Potter informed me," he said sarcastically. "Now, I want some answers."

"What?" Lily asked, standing herself as she faced Brad.

"Potter, could you kindly leave Lily and I alone?" Brad said without gazing his eyes away from Lily.

"James, stay." Lily firmly said, glancing at James' direction for a while.

"What now, huh?" Brad asked, losing his control. "Before the year started, you were complaining nonstop about Potter being the Head Boy and now you're spending the most time with him. We don't even spend enough time together anymore!" James, highly taken aback, motioned to leave.

"James," Lily said softly, "I said stay."

Looking uncertain, James started protesting. "Lily, I think it would be best if…"

"No!" Lily said, cutting him off. "Brad and I are over so there's nothing more for us to talk about." He looked at James for a few more seconds before turning her attention back to Brad. "I have nothing to say to you. Last night was clear enough. Now, Leave!"

"Do you like Potter now, huh Lily? You seemed eager to be alone with him…" Brad accused. He started nearing Lily as if trying to intimidate her. "I want to know!"

"How can you act as if you've done nothing wrong!" Lily shouted. "How can you act as if I'm the unfaithful one?" She pushed Brad away as he came nearer. "How?" She asked again. "Are you done messing with your precious seeker?"

"What are you talking about?" Brad said. The guilt flashed through his eyes for a few seconds and then was completely wiped out.

"Don't you dare play dumb with me you asshole!" Lily screamed. "I swear," she took calm deep breaths before continuing, "if you won't leave right now, I'll hex you 'til your flesh leaves your bones and your bones melt to nothingness! Leave! Now!"

"But Lily…" Bras said, coming closer once again. "I love you…"

"Well…" she said, "that's another reason for me to break up with you because I! DO NOT! LOVE YOU!" With that, she stormed away and shut the door to her room forcefully.

After Lily's outburst, Brad reluctantly left. James, having a little sympathy for the guy, didn't give him detention.

James finished off all his headwork and was doing Lily's work when she emerged from her room.

"I'm sorry about Brad…" she said as she sat beside James close to the fireplace.

Looking up, James nodded his reply. "Don't worry about it… I understand where the poor guy is standing." James said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Lily asked, wondering why James was being cool about it.

"Well," James started, looking at Lily. "Think about it this way… The guy was practically begging for you to reconsider but you didn't. He used his last card and professed his love for you, and again you didn't consider it" He laughed for a while and then continued. "Worse, you practically broke his heart to million pieces when you shouted you don't love him."

"That was terrible of me, wasn't it?"

James gave her a hard look but failed to hide his grin. "Terrible..." He said amused. "Cruel, in fact." He added.

"Well…" Lily said, unsure if it was necessary to tell James this. "It's true. I don't love him."

"Ows?" James asked with a doubtful expression on his face. "Really?"

"I have to admit I was hurt when I saw him kissing Missy, but…"

"But what?" James asked.

"I know this would sound stupid but…" Lily hid her face from James and said, "But I was also thinking that finally, I have a reason to break up with him."

To her surprise, James started laughing out loud. "I knew it! I knew it!" James started saying.

"Knew what?" Lily asked confused.

"Nothing." James said, still laughing.

Lily hit him playfully on his shoulder and asked him again. "Come on, James. Tell me…"

After a while, James was finally settled and was trying to remove the smile from his face. "Well, I sort of noticed that you were starting to act cold towards him and you were practically hiding yourself from him."

"Was I that obvious?" Lily asked with a laugh.

"Judging by the way Williams just acted, I say it was obvious to me and not to him." James laughed. "Like he said, we practically spend more time together than with others." James scribbled the last of Lily's report and pushed the parchment towards her. "Here. It's all done."

"Is this _my_ report?" Lily asked.

"Yeah…" James said, standing up. "I thought you were upset and couldn't find time to finish it. But by the looks of you now, I can say my effort finishing that would be wasted."

"Of course not." Lily insisted. She followed James' lead and stood up herself, with James helping her. "You really didn't have to do it, but thanks."

"You might want to recheck it though." James said. "I don't want you jumping on me or something once you find some mistakes."

Lily stifle a giggle and said, "I wouldn't do that…"

"Oh, I'm sorry for misjudging you miss Evans…" James joked. "But if I remembered right, you sent me to the hospital wing countless of times since time immemorial."

"I wouldn't have sent you there if you have just listened…" Lily said, finding it funny to talk about their feuds before.

"Oh really?" James said, unconvinced. "You always believed that it was I who started every fight I had with a Slytherine, when in fact, more than half of those times were started by those sly flies we call beings…" James said, sounding sarcastic.

"Well, I'm sorry then…" She said, surprisingly feeling guilty about all those times she fired hexes to James' direction.

"Don't worry about it…" He said, comfortably sounding his self again. "I'm too strong for you to cause me a permanent damage." He laughed.

"You and your cocky self again, James…" Lily said, annoyed.

"Hey… I was only kidding." He said defensively.

"I know…" Lily said, as she turned her back towards the direction of her room. '_You've changed, James…'_ Lily thought. _'And I like it…'_

Giving James a playful smile, she bid him goodnight. "Goodnight Potter…"

It has been two months after the school knew about the hottest couple's break up—it being Lily and Brad. Everybody was quite stunned to find out about it. And of course, being the jerk that Brad was, he blamed James for it.

They were doing their rounds that night when they heard footsteps hurrying away from them. Growing alarmed, both James and Lily withdrew their wands. Eyeing the corner carefully, James went on, signaling Lily to wait.

Not wanting to be left behind and James going on alone to an unknown, Lily ignored James' order and followed behind him. They heard silent whispers around another corner, and when they finally saw who the rule breakers were, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"Snape…" James addressed him. "What are you doing here?"

"Patrol duties, Potter. What else?"

"Why are your friends out here as well, Severus?" Lily asked, eyeing the others carefully. "They're not allowed to be out at this time as you very well know."

"Why don't you tell that to Potter, Mudblood?" Snape said. "His friends are sure out tonight. It's a full moon after all.

"Shut up, Snape!" James glowered, gripping his wand tighter.

"What Potter," Snape snickered, "may I ask, are you doing here? Don't your friends need your assistance?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Severus?"

Glancing at his friends with a smug smile on his face, he continued. "Why don't you ask your idiot of a boyfriend Mudblood? I'm sure Potterboy here wouldn't mind telling you."

Lily looked at James for an explanation, but he was quick to avoid the question. "Ten points from Slytherine—each—for being out at this hour. Another ten points for disrespecting the head girl." He glared at them one last time before dismissing them. "Go to bed."

Before they had their backs completely to them, Lily added. "And Snape, he's not my boyfriend…" Lily looked at James furious face before adding, "And ten points for insulting the head boy." And with that, she took James' hand and walked away from the scene.

They were nearing their head's room when Lily remembered she was still holding James' hand. Releasing it slowly, she asked. "What was he talking about?"

"Please don't ask me that…" James said, without looking at her. "I don't want to lie to you."

"So your friends are out there then?" Lily assumed.

"No." James said. "Only one of them."

"Why aren't you doing anything about it then?" Lily asked, surprisingly not getting mad. He did ask her not to ask him—he didn't like to lie to her.

"The professors know about this…" James said. "But don't worry, it's nothing illegal."

Nodding her understanding, she kept her silence, not trusting herself to speak. "You're not angry with me, are you?" James asked.

"No." Lily said, giving him a reassuring smile. "Of course not."

"Good…" James said.

While they were walking, Lily cleared her throat and took James' hand once again.

"What is it?" He asked, concerned.

"Thank you…"

Confused, James asked, "For what?"

"For not wanting to fill me in with lies." She squeezed his hand before letting go of it. "I appreciate it.

He smiled in reply and both of them continued on walking in complete silence.

They were about to go their separate rooms when James stopped and called for Lily.

"Lily…" James said as he turned around to face Lily once again. "I was just wondering…" and then, as Lily looked at him expectantly, all words were wiped out from his mind.

"What is it?" Lily asked.

Swallowing hard, James struggled to keep his composure. "I was, ah, wondering…. If we could, ammm, go out sometime… like on a date or something?" James stammered, unsure whether he was talking sense or was performing a monologue.

Finding his stammering quite amusing, Lily decided to make it harder for him. "A date?"

"Yeah…" James trailed off. "But I understand if you don't want to come, I mean, it's ok… It's not as if… no… I mean, yeah… it's no problem… I'm sorry… I should have known that you amm wouldn't want to and ahh… yeah I should probably go and you amm… you would want to sleep now…I'm sorry and ahhh " James started walking backwards, gesturing his hands in a confusing manner, as if trying to tell her goodnight. "Right… I'll be ammm, going to my room now…. And I'm sorry… I didn…"

"James…" Lily said, cutting him off.

"…I didn't really….. I mean, I'm sorry that, ahhh.. that, well, I'm going now and ahhh…"

"James…" Lily said, louder this time.

"Huh?" James asked. "Were you calling me?"

Happy that she finally caught his attention, she smiled and approached him. "Yes," she simply said.

"Yes?" James asked.

"Yeah…" Lily said, getting nearer now. "I said yes…"

Still looking uncertain, James asked again. "Yes as in you were calling me or yes 'yes'?"

"You know, you're really cute when you're stammering…" Lily said. "But yes, I would love to go out with you."

James stared unbelievingly at her before waking up from his shock. "You're kidding right?"

"Why?" Lily asked, moving closer. "Would you prefer it to be a joke?"

"No, no, no, no, no, of course not…" James said hurriedly. "I mean, wow… I just thought… I mean, wow…"

Lily giggled a little before finally looking at James with a question in her eyes. "So? Saturday's ok?" He asked.

"Yeah sure…" Lily said. "Good night James." She kissed him on his cheek shyly before entering her room, and finally, with a smile, she closed the door.

James, however, stood stupidly outside Lily's room for a while before retiring himself. All night, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I'm an amateur! I don't write for a living. I write for fun. It's my hobby—not work. I write for the lack of anything else productive to do. I don't own Harry Potter. It's all JK Rowling's.

**A/N:** I know I said, One-Shot, but I just can't shake off the feeling that I shouldn't have ended "A Change of Heart" that way… So here… Just to put myself to peace, I continued it.

**Chapter 2 **

Sirius and Remus were looking at James oddly. The three of them were currently situated at the Gryffindor's common room, playing exploding snaps—I mean, they were supposed to be playing. But with James staring into nothingness, it was impossible to play. Growing amused, Remus decided to play with James' indifferent state.

Giving Sirius 'the look', Remus spoke. "Hey Guys… Have you heard that Lily was going out again?" Sirius was trying his hardest not to laugh or smirk. He acted concerned and nudged James' side.

"Prongs?" He said, still trying to catch James' attention but failing miserably. "Hey Prongs?" Receiving no response, he followed Remus' instruction and pushed James forcefully that it caused him to fall from the chair he was seating on.

"What's your problem!" James finally said, holding his butt from the impact of the fall. "What did you do that for?"

"You were dazing out again." Sirius explained, failing to keep the playful smirk off his face.

"And?" James questioned, still rubbing his ass from the pain. "You could have just said something. Why did you have to push me?"

"Well… because, mr-oh-my-precious-ass-hurts, we were doing just that but you wouldn't budge. Not even giving us a hint if you heard us or not." Sirius said. "So what do you expect us to do? Wait 'til you're back here on earth, 'coz believe me, I wouldn't wait _that_ long to inform you that your darling Lily is back on the dating track."

"How'd you know that?" James asked, wondering if he did tell his mates about their conversation with Lily.

"We heard her talking with Williams this morning…" Remus said, fighting not to smile. "Apparently, he was begging for days and Lily eventually gave in saying _'this is your last chance so don't blow it' _crap."

"We swear James, Williams was ready to run a mile from joy." Sirius said, kicking Remus under the table, motioning him to back his story up."

"And, well, amm… we heard him telling his friends about it, saying Lily would be his again by the end of the month…"

"Which is a few days from now, Prongs…" Sirius continued. "Can you believe that prat? He's so full of himself—even surpassing your big headedness…"

Feeling the blood rush to his face in anger, James rose from his seat and motioned to leave. Finding James' reaction extremely hilarious, Sirius decided to be good friend and play concerned. "Prongs? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Lily." He said, without glancing at them. Growing alarmed, Remus immediately asked why he was going to look for her.

"Why?"

Nearing the portrait more, he faced both his friends red-faced, and said. "Because last night, LILY agreed to go out with ME this weekend!" With that said, he rushed out of the portrait, eager to talk to the girl who was toying with his emotions.

Sirius and Remus shared anxious looks and hurriedly ran after their furious friend.

"Damn you Moony!" Sirius said, "This is your fault!"

"Shut up, Sirius! This is your fault as much as it's mine."

James was oblivious to the younger years staring at him as he stormed though the halls. He was on his way to the library, where he was sure Lily was. He couldn't even hear his friends calling after him. With every step he took, he was gaining speed.

He was hurt more than he was angry. The thought that Lily lied to him and took advantage of his feelings for her made him want to grab her and shout to her face until he calmed down.

But the other side of him told him that it was impossible. Lily would never do that to him—or to any other person at that. But it was Sirius and Remus who informed him of that. His best friends wouldn't lie to him, would they? Unless they were joking… But they wouldn't joke about something like that—something about Lily. Because after all, if it comes to Lily, he could do anything—even act crazy.

As he entered the library, he didn't even bother checking if Lily was really there because he was sure that at the point where he was standing, he wouldn't see Lily. She is fond of working at the very far end corner of the library to make sure that no one can bother her.

As he approached Lily's table, he couldn't help but feel relaxed.

"Lily…" James said, not wanting to seat down.

Lily looked up with an annoyed expression on her face, but when she realized it was James, she smiled at him. "James... I thought you were spending the day with your friends?"

"Ah yah… I was there before I went here to find you." He was pondering whether it would be best if he would seat himself down but thought better of it. "I was just wondering if we could talk?" He asked.

Looking uncertain, Lily started to clear her things from the table.

"We don't have to leave." He said, as he noticed her fixing her belongings. "The library is fine."

"No it's ok," she said, putting the last of her parchments into her bag. "I prefer for us to talk outside."

"Ok." James said, having no choice in the matter. He grabbed Lily's books from the table and she gave James a grateful smile. "Let's go then?"

Sirius and Remus were wondering where James was. They were following him just a few seconds ago, but when they round up the corner, he was gone.

"I bet he went to the library." Remus said, thinking that it was the most logical place to find Lily. "I'm sure he was thinking Lily is there right now."

Agreeing to Remus' reasoning, Sirius rushed to his left, towards the library, not wasting any moment to voice out his agreement to his friend's statement. Sighing, Remus rushed after his hurrying friend.

When they arrived at the other end of the hall where the library was located, they were in time to find Lily and James turning the other corner, surprisingly directed to the outside grounds.

Sirius and Remus shared confused looks, trying to catch their breaths before running after their friend.

Not waiting to be outside, James started to talk. "How was your day?" He asked, too nervous to ask his real intention of finding her.

"It was all right…" Lily said, wondering if it was really the question James wanted to ask her. "How was your day?"

"Nothing special." He said, adjusting the weight of the books in his right hand.

"Ok…" Lily took a glance at James and she was surprised to see him frowning, obviously deep in thought. She reached for his hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "James? What's wrong?" she asked concerned.

Startled to feel Lily's hand on his, he smiled at her. "I don't know if I should believe it, but I have to ask." He said, refusing to look Lily in the eye.

"What is it?" She asked, growing more concerned.

Taking a deep breath, James turned to look at her and started. "Well… You see, Sirius and Remus told me that they heard you talki—"

"James wait!" Remus shouted hurrying his way to James' side.

"We were only kidding!" Sirius shouted, still trying to catch his breath.

"It's not true that Lily agreed to go out with Williams again!" Remus continued, feeling really guilty about fooling James.

"We were only joking!" Sirius added. "I swear Prongs, it was Moony's idea!"

"Oh shut up Sirius!" Remus said, stopping to punch Sirius on his shoulder. "You very well know it was _our_ fault and not just mine! So stop putting me in a more dangerous position!"

"I didn't say it was all your fault!" Sirius argued, rubbing his arm for comfort. "I only said it was your idea!"

"Just shut up!" Remus repeated.

After a while of staring at his tired friends' faces, James finally got the heart to speak to them.

"What did you just said?" He asked, his facial expression livid. He was infuriated with his friends and was struggling to keep his hands to himself.

"Sorry?" Remus and Sirius said in chorus, before running away from their friend. "See you tomorrow in class Prongs!" Sirius shouted behind his shoulder.

James was about to run after them when he felt Lily's hand tightening her grip on his. "Don't…" She said with a laugh. "You heard them. They were only kidding."

"And they were kind enough to run after me when I was about to ask you…" James said sarcastically. "When I get my hands on them, I'm going to make sure they're going to be badly injured."

"You wouldn't do that…" Lily said undoubtedly.

"I will if they do that again." He said. There was an uncomfortable silence where the two of them were just looking at each other.

"Well," Lily started, "you weren't jealous, were you?"

"Me? Jealous?" James asked unbelievingly. "Don't flatter yourself too much Miss Evans, or you might find yourself dateless on Saturday." James joked.

"Oh really?" Lily asked, removing her hand from his. "Ok then. It's fine with me. Brad was offering me a date all week after all. If you wouldn't want to go, I can ask him anytime." She gave James a flirty smile before turning her back to him. She was moving away from him when she felt him grabbed her arm gently.

"Hey…" he said, his eyes surprisingly sad. "I was only kidding."

She smiled triumphantly before teasing him again. "So you were jealous then?"

"Yeah, yeah…" He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Just a little though…" he added. Lily raised her eyebrow in return, doubting his words very much.

"Ok… Ok… I was jealous a hell lot!" he admitted. He looked at her with a pout and said, "I mean what's a poor guy got to do when he's been asking the girl since fifth year?"

"Go crazy?" Lily suggested, giggling a little.

"Well, I did just that, though I was able to control my anger when I saw you."

"You were angry with me?" She asked.

"Well, not really…" he said. Feeling there was a need to say more, he added. "I guess I was hurt more than angry. But I was sure hell mad at Williams."

With a smile, she approached James and positioned her arms around his neck. "I didn't know you could be sweet with words Potter…" she said, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck before giving him a playful smile. "I could kiss you now you know…"

Smiling back, he leaned in closer. "I have no objections to that…" With that said, he leaned even more and kissed her. They started sweet and slow but James deepened the kiss. He brushed the tip of his tongue on Lily's lips asking for entrance. When Lily parted her lips, James eagerly explored her mouth with his tongue. They were both fighting for control.

James moved their bodies closer, anxious to feel more of her body. He positioned his hand on her neck, pulling her to him even more while his other hand was on her waist, brushing his thumb on her.

"James…" Lily said between kisses, giggling a little. "That tickles."

James pulled away and smiled at her, "I'm sorry…"

"It's ok." She grabbed his hand and said, "Where do you want to go?"

"Can we just stay here?" He asked, eyeing the deserted hall. "I would love to kiss you more."

"Later…" Lily said as she started pulling James towards the Great Hall. "You would have me all to yourself tonight."

Feeling excited, James keenly asked, "What are you suggesting my beautiful maiden?"

Giving him her best smile, she said, "You'll soon find out…"

**END **

**A/N:** Sorry to end it here folks… I'll leave you the task of imagining what happened that night. Have fun! –and oh… Please leave me a review… Who knows, maybe I'll get the chance to write another one when I get some good number of reviews… I guess I need inspiration… smiles playfully… :-)

**-KiM-**


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